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<div style="float:right"><b>Update: August 22, 2007</b></div>
<h3>SuiteAttribute (NUnit 2.0/2.4.4)</h3>
	
<p>The Suite Attribute is used to define subsets of test to be run from the
	command-line, using the <b>/fixture</b> option. It was introduced in NUnit 
	2.0 to replace the older approach of inheriting from the TestSuite class.</p>
	
<p>Originally, the NUnit developers believed that the need for the Suite
    mechanism would diminish because of the dynamic creation of suites based
	on namespaces. It was provided for backwards compatibility.</p>
	
<p>That has not proven to be true. Suites are still used today by many people,
    so we are making an effort to revive them in terms of usability. 
	
<p>The Suite mechanism depends on a static property marked with the </b>SuiteAttribute</b>.
	In the clasic implementation, supported by all releases since 2.0, that property
	returns a TestSuite, populated with the tests that are to be executed.
	
<h4>Old Approach</h4>

<div class="code">

<pre>namespace NUnit.Tests
{
  using System;
  using NUnit.Framework;
  using NUnit.Core;

  public class AllTests
  {
    [Suite]
    public static TestSuite Suite
    {
      get
      {
        TestSuite suite = new TestSuite("All Tests");
        suite.Add(new OneTestCase());
        suite.Add(new Assemblies.AssemblyTests());
        suite.Add(new AssertionTest());
        return suite;
      }
    }
  }
}
</pre>

</div>

<p>This approach has a serious problem: it requires a reference to the nunit.core assembly,
	which is not normally referenced by user tests. This means that the tests
	cannot be ported across versions of NUnit without recompilation. In some cases,
	introducing more than one version of the core assembly can prevent NUnit
	from running correctly.
	
<p>Beginning with NUnit 2.4.4, a new approach is available. The property marked
	with the <b>SuiteAttribute</b> may simply return a collection containing test 
	fixture objects or Types.
	If a Type is provided, NUnit creates an object of that type for use
	as a fixture. Any other object is assumed to be a pre-created fixture object.
	This allows objects with parameterized constructors or settable
	properties to be used as fixtures.

<p>Test suites created through use of the <b>SuiteAttribute</b> may contain <b>TestFixtureSetUp</b> and 
	<b>TestFixtureTearDown</b> methods, to perform one-time setup and teardown
	for the tests included in the suite.
	
<h4>New Approach - Fixture Objects</h4>

<div class="code">

<pre>namespace NUnit.Tests
{
  using System;
  using NUnit.Framework;

  private class AllTests
  {
    [Suite]
    public static IEnumerable Suite
    {
      get
      {
        ArrayList suite = new ArrayList();
        suite.Add(new OneTestCase());
        suite.Add(new AssemblyTests());
        suite.Add(new NoNamespaceTestFixture());
        return suite;
      }
    }
  }
}
</pre>

</div>

<h4>New Approach - Fixture Types</h4>

<div class="code">

<pre>namespace NUnit.Tests
{
  using System;
  using NUnit.Framework;

  private class AllTests
  {
    [Suite]
    public static IEnumerable Suite
    {
      get
      {
        ArrayList suite = new ArrayList();
        suite.Add(typeof(OneTestCase));
        suite.Add(typeof(AssemblyTests));
        suite.Add(typeof(NoNamespaceTestFixture));
        return suite;
      }
    }
  }
}
</pre>

</div>

<h4>Limitations</h4>

NUnit support for user-defined Suites currently has two limitations:

<ol>
	<li>It is not possible to include individual test cases directly
	in a Suite using the new approach. Anyone wanting to do so will 
	need to use the old approach and create an object derive from
	NUnit.Core.TestCase. This is not recommended, since it requires
	a reference to the core assembly.
	
	<li>Suites are currently not displayed in the Gui or run automatically
	by either runner when they are encountered. The historical purpose of 
	the Suite mechanism was to provide a way of aggregating tests at the
	top level of each run. Hence, they are only supported when used with 
	the /fixture option on the console or gui command line.
	top level of an application. Thus, they may only
	outcome of the historical purpose of 
</ol>

Approaches to removing these limitations are being investigated as part
of the planning for future NUnit releases.

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